For Noblesville resident Sara Castillo Dandurand, “Rumors” represents a perfect blend.
“Neil Simon’s writing coupled with a farce is a great combination,” she said. “This is the only farce that he wrote.”
Noblesville resident Sara Castillo Dandurand figured “Rumors” was a perfect blend.
“It’s Neil Simon’s writing coupled with a farce is a great combination,” she said. “This is the only farce that he wrote.
Castillo Dandurand will appear as Cassie in Main Street Production’s presentation of “Rumors” June 2 to 11 at Basile Westfield Playhouse.
Dandurand has previously performed at Civic Theatre, Bard Fest and Mud Creek Players. She was in “Much Ado About Nothing” at Civic in 2020 along with Kelsey Van Voorst.
Van Voorst, a Fishers resident, is playing Cookie in “Rumors.”
Van Voorst, a Carmel High School graduate, has performed in ComedySportz for 15 years and improv events around the city.
“I never really do anything too serious. I really like farces because they are so fast, and timing is everything with a farce. It needs to be very quick,” Van Voorst said. “My high school teacher (Jim Peterson) used to call farces fast, furious and funny.”
Westfield resident Josh Elicker, who moved from Charlotte, N.C., three years ago, is performing in his first play in the Indianapolis area.
“I like the speed of everything, and everything is overlapping,” said Elicker, who plays Lenny Gatz. “It just has this frantic energy about it and that just makes for a fun show. I have never been in a Neil Simon show but always wanted to do one. One of my favorite shows I did in college was ‘Noises Off,’ which is a famous farce, so I instantly fell in love with the style of doors opening and closing and people running up and down stairs and people screwing things up.”
Noblesville resident Laura Givens is playing the role of Chris Gorman.
“I love Neil Simon and it’s a light, frothy comedy,” she said.
The play is quite a departure from her last show, when she played Blanche DuBois in Carmel Community Players’ production of “A Streetcar Named Desire” in 2019
“This is a nice change, something a little lighter,” Givens said. “I hadn’t done a comedy in a while. It’s fun, sophisticated humor.”
Givens, who is from Mt. Vernon, had worked with “Rumors” director Jen Otterman in Shakespeare in the Park.
Monya Wolf, who lives in Indianapolis, performed in “White Christmas” at Westfield Playhouse in December.
“I adore farces,” said Wolf, who portrays Claire Ganz. “I always think it’s hilarious.”
Wolf has been in Indianapolis for six years, doing 16 shows either in technical crew or acting.
Wolf and Otterman are friends but have not worked together before.
Otterman has acted in the play before as Chris Gorman at the Red Barn Summer Theatre in Frankfort.
“I have also previously directed it at Hamilton Southeastern High School, where I taught theater, speech and writing for 30 years,” Otterman said. “I do enjoy directing fast-paced farce. It challenges the creative juices to come up with funny stage business that hits the mark and fits the characters and situations.
The cast has been working hard and are playing off one another well.”
For more, westfieldplayhouse.org.
